seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 12:1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
a. Revelation 12:5 Psalm 2:9
When I read this chapter this morning.... it reminded me of Hagar. As a matter of fact... the last time I read this it reminded me of Hagar.
This is from the easy English site.
The action was in the sky and on the earth. It was not in heaven where God lives. John saw a woman who was ready to give birth to a son. John described her in a strange way. He wrote that her dress was the sun. The moon was beneath her feet. She wore a crown. And there were 12 stars in her crown.
Joseph had a dream (Genesis 37:9-11). In that dream, he saw the sun, the moon and 11 stars. The sun meant Jacob who was also called Israel. The moon meant Jacob’s wife. The stars meant Joseph’s brothers. The 12 tribes of Israel came from Joseph and his brothers. So, the woman whom John saw meant the nation called Israel.
The woman cried out because of the pains of birth. The Christ would be born into the nation called Israel.
The next sign that John saw was a great red dragon. The dragon had 7 heads and 10 horns. Each head had a crown on it. This is a description of the last great world government. It will be a kingdom that unites 10 separate kingdoms (Daniel 7:7-8; Daniel 7:24). At the same time, the dragon means someone in particular. The person who gives power to that kingdom is Satan. So, the great red dragon means Satan.
John saw the tail of the dragon sweep the sky. A third of the stars seemed to fall out of the sky. These stars seem to mean angels. When *Satan became God’s enemy, many angels supported Satan. These evil angels had to leave heaven.
The dragon waited to kill the child as soon as it was born. When Jesus was born, Herod tried to kill him. This dragon also failed.
During the last three and a half years, Satan will try to kill all the Jews. But God will protect those Jews who believe in him. He has prepared for them a place of safety.
John saw Satan and his angels fall from heaven. Then John heard a loud voice in heaven. The voice said that now God would rescue his people. God will use his power and his kingdom will come. Jesus Christ will soon rule the earth. He will rule on this earth for a thousand years (chapter 20).
Now Satan could not go to God in heaven. From the start, he had been there day and night.
All the time he accused God’s people of sin. But now the Lord threw him out of heaven.
The dragon could not kill the child. God threw the dragon (Satan) out of heaven. So, the dragon turned his attention to the woman. He tried to kill her.
The woman means the true Jews. They are the Jews who trust in God. Satan will oppose them. But God will protect them.
God gave to the woman a pair of wings. They were like the wings of a great eagle. The eagle is a very powerful bird. With these wings, the woman escaped from the dragon.
The dragon was angry because he could not reach the woman. So, he went to fight her other children.
Lately I have seen more and more children in the news. They've been in the commercials for a long time.... we have seen the starving children who need our money to eat..... the flies that are buzzing around their sad little faces is meant to make us open our wallets. We're almost use to that. For the past year, though.... actually for the past few years.... children have been in the news. First they were being shot for going to school. Then they were being ripped from their mothers' arms.....and thrown in cages. Next they were being pulled away from their grandparents for fear of making their grandparents sick with COVID.... then they were pulled out of schools.... [better than being shot in school I guess].... and now.... they are finally going back to school.... but many of them.... as many as a half a million in the US.... will be going back to school with the death of a family member on their heart.... and as of day before yesterday.... they have to worry that the members of their family that are left.... might get shot in a grocery store trying to buy their dinner.
As I was reading this chapter this morning.... I started thinking of Hagar. Hagar had to go into hiding too.... God promised to protect her and her son Ishmael. Ishmael became the father of the Arab nations.... or so I was taught. Hagar was a maidservant.... she took care if Sarah... Isaac's mom. When Sarah couldn't have a baby she had her husband get Hagar pregnant..... and it caused a big fight.... then Sarah finally did get pregnant and she threw Hagar out. Hagar had to go into hiding. God protected Hagar.
So... yesterday hubby wanted to watch that show about the Bible Hunters again.... he fell asleep the first time through. I am now more curious about the Gospel of Thomas.... the doubter..... but then again.... John is the one who had these visions...and maybe I should be sticking with convention and believe the woman is Mary.... who escaped to Egypt..... after all... that was part of the original plan to bring Jesus to earth as a Human so He could be the Messiah.
So I guess I'll have to wait and ask.... "Who is that woman?"
